THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.
2019 Results: Due to a low number of submissions for this year’s features contest, the board of Screenwriters’ Workshop has decided to refund the entry fees of those submitting scripts to this contest. In lieu of prizes, all participants will be offered professional coverage for their submitted screenplay valued at $150.
With the number of submissions to this contest declining over the past few years, the board is looking for your input for other ways that might engage participation of its writers in developing professionally.
For a list of all past feature contest winners, click here.
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2019 Feature Contest
Eighth Annual Feature Film Screenwriting Competition
Sponsored By Screenwriters’ Workshop
with additional generous support from
Minneapolis Community and Technical College Cinema Division
DEADLINE:
March 15, 2019 (Midnight)
OVERVIEW:
Screenwriters’ Workshop, a Minnesota non-profit organization dedicated to offering opportunities for professional excellence and recognition in the industry, is proud to announce its Eighth Annual Feature Film Screenwriting Competition, sponsored by Screenwriters’ Workshop and the Minneapolis Community and Technical College Cinema Division. The competition is designed to showcase screenwriting talent, create new screenplays and promote Minnesota and its many cultural aspects. Professional out-of-state judges will evaluate the scripts entered by Screenwriters’ Workshop members, student members, and new members. The top three scripts will be awarded cash prizes.
GUIDELINES:
• Feature screenplays must be in standard screenplay format between 90 and 120 pages in length.
• Your feature entry can be on any topic in any genre.
• First prize is $500, second prize is $300 and third prize is $200.
• Entry fee is $50 for each screenplay up to a maximum of two features. Students entries are $25 for each screenplay up to a maximum of two.
• You must be a paid member of Screenwriters Workshop to enter.
• Previously entered scripts may be resubmitted with the exception of any script that has previously won first prize in this feature contest. First-prize winners must “wait out” 2 years before entering new scripts (for past winners, click here).
• This Screenwriters’ Workshop Screenwriting Competition is open to any individual who is 18 years of age or older at the date of entry and resides in Minnesota or any Wisconsin county adjacent to Minnesota.
• Submissions must be the original work of the entrant(s).
• Adaptations are not allowed in this contest.
• Collaborative work by up to two writers is eligible. Each collaborator’s name must be added during the application process and both must be members of Screenwriters’ Workshop.
• Screenplay Format:
◦ Required page length range is 90 pages minimum to 120 pages maximum. SCREENPLAYS OVER 120 PAGES OR UNDER 90 PAGES WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
◦ The screenplay must use Courier 12 point with standard screenplay formatting, spacing, and margins.
◦ No illustrations or photographs on the inside of pages or the cover of the screenplay.
◦ Screenplays must be written in English.
• No SWW member assisting with the contest may enter.
ENTRANTS MUST SUBMIT:
• A completed application form: you’ll go to after clicking on “CLICK HERE TO ENTER AND PAY” below. The required information includes title, contact info, genre, logline, the legal clause listed, etc. Please provide only one address if collaborating with another writer.
• A .pdf of an original feature-length narrative film screenplay. Pdf’s should be e-mailed with a completed application to: mnscreenwritersworkshop@gmail.com. Put the title of script in the subject line of the email. In the body of the e-mail include the script title, the writer’s name (must be a paid SWW member), writer’s contact email and phone, the script’s genre, page count, and logline.
• Please include a cover page to the script without the writer’s name anywhere on the title page or in the script.
• A single entry fee per screenplay entry paid via PayPal or check. Entry fees will not be returned or adjusted. An entrant may submit a MAXIMUM of two screenplays to the competition.
• Screenwriting students must provide proof of their student status and transcript of screenwriting course undertaken.
• Submissions for the 2019 competition must be received by the Screenwriters’ Workshop and entrance fee paid no later than 11:59 p.m. March 15, 2019. Submitted screenplays will not be returned.
• The burden is on the writer(s) to provide adequate documentation of requirements. Disqualified applicants will not receive a refund.
NOTE: Only one copy, draft or version of any screenplay may be submitted by entrant(s). Under no circumstances will substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered screenplay(s) be allowed.
PRIZES:
• A panel of out-of-state judges will select a slate of finalists.
• The writer(s) of the winning screenplay will receive $500. Winner agrees to media availability and publicity.
• First prize: $500. The winning screenplay will receive a public reading, sponsored by Screenwriters’ Workshop and MCTC. A rewritten version of the script can be used when it is read by actors at a public staged reading performance. However, the new draft must be presented before the director receives the script to begin casting and rehearsals.
• Second place entry will receive $300.
• Third place entry will receive $200.
ACKNOWLEDGE THE TERMS & CONDITIONS:
By entering, I (we) attest:
• To the accuracy of the information supplied in this application.
• That the material submitted is my (our) sole and original work and not an adaptation.
• To my (our) agreement to hold the Screenwriters’ Workshop harmless from, and defend them against, all claims, demands, losses, costs, damages, judgments, liabilities and expenses (including attorney’s fees) arising out of or in connection with any stories submitted to the Screenwriters’ Workshop competition or on any screenplay developed out of such stories.
• That the Screenwriters’ Workshop may retain the material submitted for use in connection with its Screenwriters’ Workshop programs, and thereafter for its archival collection of educational materials, as to which use I (we) expressly waive compensation. Specifically, I/we give permission for my/our script to be used in SWW’s 2nd Tuesday Table Reading Series where MCTC students read, analyze, and write coverage of the script (which is later sent to the writer or writers). The top 3 scripts may be read in the 2nd Tuesday reading series.
• That the burden of obtaining a copyright or otherwise protecting any proprietary interests in the material, if I (we) wish to do so, rests entirely with me (us).
• That providing false or misleading information on this application, or failing in any other way to comply with the rules of the competition, will subject me (us) to disqualification, forfeiture of prize money and/or other penalties.
• The burden is on the writer(s) to provide adequate documentation of requirements. Disqualified applicants will not receive a refund.
